This invention relates to machinery for manufacturing containers, and in particular to machinery for attaching reclosable spouts to containers such as paperboard cartons or flexible packaging used for holding liquids, solids and the like.
A common and useful type of container is the paperboard carton having a gabled top. Examples of such cartons include the everyday milk and juice cartons. In recent years, these cartons have been used for numerous other products, including foods, beverages and detergents. These cartons are typically coated or laminated with a heat-sealable plastic, which is used by manufacturers to seal the cartons.
In the past, the contents of these cartons are dispensed by ripping open the gable top and unfolding a pourable spout. Once the carton is ripped open, it cannot be tightly resealed. To address this problem, cartons have been devised with reclosable spouts. These spouts are also referred to in the field as fitments, closures and caps. For convenience, they are referred to in this application as simply “spouts”.
A conventional spout is opened and closed by means of a removable cap, snap, hatch or the like. In the case of a capped spout, a person using the carton removes the cap to dispense the contents of the carton (typically a beverage). Because the carton has not been torn open, the contents can be tightly resealed.
Cartons having reclosable spouts are typically manufactured with automated machinery (often referred to as “packaging machinery”) which forms the carton from a flat piece (or “blank”) of paperboard or other suitable material. After the carton has been partially formed (but not filled or sealed), the reclosable spout is attached. A typical spout consists of a plastic tubular cylinder having a mounting flange at one end and a threaded, removable cap (or other conventional closure) at the other. The spout is mounted from inside the carton through a preformed hole formed in the paperboard blank so that the capped-end extends outward, while the flange abuts the interior side of the carton wall. The flange is then ultrasonically welded to the wall of the carton. Examples of these types of containers and spouts are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,562, issued on Oct. 23, 1990 to Gordon, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,425, issued on Jul. 22, 1986 to Bachner.
The component of packaging machinery which attaches spouts to cartons is often referred to as an “applicator” or an “applicator machine”. U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,669, issued on Feb. 11, 1997 to Moody et al., discloses an applicator machine having an arm that picks up a spout and pivots inside the open end of a carton to line up the spout with a preformed hole in the carton. The arm is then moved transversely to insert the spout through the hole in the carton. This type of applicator machine requires two separate distinct motions to move the spout from the location it was picked up by the arm to the location where the spout is inserted through the hole of the carton: one motion to pivot the arm inside the open end of the carton to line up the spout with the hole of the carton and another motion to move the spout transversely to insert the spout through the hole. To accomplish the two separate distinct motions, this type of applicator machine typically requires two air cylinders. U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,319 to Moody, U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,524 to Annehed and U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,504 to Glacomelli similarly disclose multiple distinct motions to move the spout from the location where spout was picked up to the location where the spout is inserted through the hole of the carton.